


breaking water surface

by yunnings (ladylolli)



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, Mer!AU, merman!kuroko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-14
Updated: 2014-02-14
Packaged: 2018-01-12 09:11:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1184462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladylolli/pseuds/yunnings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Kise almost drowns. / ”Kurokocchi,” Kise gasps, “Kurokocchi.” His name is the only word on his lips, and in his head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	breaking water surface

**Author's Note:**

> can you tell I'm stressed?

It is a necklace Kuroko should not have lost. But as it stands now, he can only weave in and out of the crowd of people, still not thinning at this late hour, searching for a teardrop pendant the colour of frozen water.

He needs to find it soon. _Or I won't be able to return home_ , Kuroko despaired.

The ray of dusk sunlight pools onto the floor. Kuroko usually appreciates this sight, marvelling at the ethereality. The pool of sunlight was bright, yet soft on the eyes. _The opposite of Aomine-kun_ , he mused, _who is all hard edges, though gentle inside._

As it is, with the weight of a teardrop stone missing around his neck, Kuroko senses a jut of panic instead. _I need to leave soon_ runs a circle in his head.

-

Kuroko is standing by the water's edge, shaded by the trees from the setting sun. Kise would have missed him, had the sudden heat searing his palm not alerted him. The heat emaciating from the teardrop pendant is akin to being scalded by boiling water, but Kise clutched it in his sweat-slicked palm tighter.

Kise’s pulse quickens as he eyes Kuroko, heading nearer and nearer towards water’s edge. 'Don't do it!' Kise wants to shout, so instead he yells Kuroko's name and quickens his pace.

"Kurokocchi! Kurokocchi!"

-

This is what Kise had planned inside his head: run to Kuroko, grab him away from the pool, and return the teardrop pendant. Maybe lecture Kurokocchi to be sensible soon.

Instead, this is what happened:

Kise tripped.

Kurokocchi's name is stuck halfway in his throat as Kise gasps. Kise managed to clutch onto Kurokocchi; the two of them falling into the freezing waters below.

-

Kise does not remember much afterwards, and Kuroko chose to keep mum while he half-drags, half-swim towards soiled ground.

The water is warm and welcoming on his skin. A flick of his tail tells Kuroko that with his return, the pair of legs had become no more, already morphing into a streamline fish tail. Kuroko need not check his ears to know that flimsy webs will most likely be there - they are his fins and gills, and if the tail is not distinct enough, Kuroko’s fins and gills will be. They distinguish him from the people of the land, whom had ears instead of breathing gills once emerged underwater.

The teardrop pendant rests on his wrist, a familiar weight. Kuroko flicks his wrist, entwining the cord more securely on his thin wrist. Kuroko cannot afford to lose his pendant a second time. Satisfied, Kuroko continued his journey of pulling Kise up to the surface.

-

They were almost there; Kuroko can see the sunlight glittering when he looks up, bouncing off his tail and refracting off smooth rocks and clear water. A tug to his arm alerted Kuroko that Kise had awoken.

Kise seems to speak and chokes on water.

Kuroko had the fleeting thought to entangle the cord of his necklace-turned-bracelet onto Kise’s wrist, but decided against it. Kuroko swam faster, his hold on Kise tighter.

 _Kise does not belong here,_ Kuroko decides.  
  
-

They broke the water’s surface to a sparkle of glistening water.

"Kurokocchi," Kise gasps, "Kurokocchi." His name is the only word on his lips, and in his head.

"Thank you," Kuroko expresses. Thank you for returning the pendant, thank you for your weaving it on my wrist before falling into the water. _Thank you for returning me home._ Kuroko's eyes, now the shade of seawater in the shallows exposed to sunlight, was heavy with sincerity and gratitude.

"Be careful with your pendant next time, Kurokocchi!" Kise chirps, the words sounding foreign on his tongue. _Did I just say that?_ Kise wonders. He is still staring wide-eyed and fascinated at merman-Kuroko right in front of him, surprised that he can actually chain words and insert enthusiasm into the phrase.

Kuroko inclined his head before dipping back into the depths of the sea where his home lie.


End file.
